School for Stars First and Second Term at L’Etoile Review
Reviewed by Dawn Watson
I was delighted to be chosen to review this 2-in1 edition of a series of books by the Willoughby sisters. My 11 year old daughter and I decided that she would read it first then I would read to my 7 year old. We were keen to know what L’Etoile meant and it is in fact “star”
The storyline itself, in my opinion, isn’t a new one it is basically about girls attending a boarding school for performing arts whether it is for their dancing, acting or musical abilities. It also allows the reader to subtlety go through the issues good and bad of friendships between girls and girls with very strong characters, which is something all young girls will experience at some point in their young lives. Something the reader can perhaps associate with. L’Etoile captures your imagination from the very start and any young girl who loves to dream of being famous one day will love the whole idea of this school.
However this story is brought bang up to date with reference to ‘blogs’, ’emails’ and the Internet for example.
The story brings together twin sisters (Molly and Maria) who share their room with Pippa, who won her place through being seen singing on the Internet and subsequently got a scholarships to L’Etoile. However as in all good stories there is always someone who is going to cause much upset, in this story it’s Lucifette, but will her nasty plans succeed?
Moving onto the second term and the second book – this continues the stories of friendship, surprises, midnight hunts all following their return after the Christmas holidays, with the talented trio getting up to mischief. It’s really quite amusing with some of the adventures they go on. Although my daughters couldn’t actually relate personally to the girls lifestyle they certainly aspired to it!
Personally I think the way the story is written is perfect for the young girl reader aged 8-12. Its language, little notes to the reader, and ease of understanding is just what is so appealing and such a girly girl book.
My eldest daughter read this book very quickly and loved the way there was a ‘who’s who’ at the back of the book which reminded you who all the characters were. I was taken back to my childhood when reading some similar stories with lots of drama, excitement, revenge and forever friendship.
There are currently 5 books in this series with I am sure plenty more surprises and fun to come.
Rating: 4.5/5
RRP: £7.99 (Paperback) / £1.99 (Kindle)
Available to buy from Amazon here.
